open entry – yes, distance education – why? adult learning – why not?

Open entry – Yes,Distance education – Why?Adult learning – Why not?

Natalia Li, David Kember11th May 2005, OUHK

contents

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches in dealing with their study in the first year of distance education (30 minutes)

Part II – Interpretation and explanation of the mismatches (20 minutes)

Question and answer (10 minutes)

Part I

Students’ difficulties and mismatches in dealing with

their study in the first year of distance learning

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches

IntroductionQualitative research on 10 new entrants to distance educationHad many hurdlesTheir struggles interpreted as mismatches between degree of development of independent learning and method of study to be adoptedFindings are discussed – adult learning of self-determination and open entry

Part I – Students’ difficulties and

mismatches

Methodology2 rounds of in-depth interviews (1 year apart)Telephone discussions in betweenVisits to tutorials

- sought research subjects (end of 1999) - observed 6 research subjects (2000)


mismatches

Students’ backgroundall 10 students recruited from a foundation business course, BBA (but 1 studied language stream)9 F.5 or F.7 graduates, 1 Grade 12 overseas3 studied full-time diploma or certificate courses3 studied part-time diploma or certificate coursesall learned through face-to-face taught mode before studying at the University


mismatches

Learning independently assumed VS study methods adopted

8 mismatches were identified

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches Mismatch 1 – did not make good use of prospectus and course supplementary

Not helping oneself to make decisions

It’s very difficult to choose courses, by only relying on the prospectus. Oh, OU should tell/suggest what courses would be relevant to other courses. It affected my study. It is very difficult to tell OU that you should provide another course but not this one. It would be better if they can give advice on choosing courses.

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches Mismatch 2 – could not manage new concepts of all courses

Some were good at essay type courses, but weak in computing or mathematics types, or vise versa

Performed not so well as they wanted to

Needed extra time, effort and support to handle tasks, which they might not have prepared for


Not good at essay type courses

You don’t know how the tutors or markers would mark your writing. There are no definite or standard answers. You never know exactly how you perform.

Yes, it is right to ask for more elaboration. However, it

is very difficult for me. I was required to present the theory in detail. The tutors might comment that I do not write enough to illustrate my understanding. I am used to write one or two sentences to present my ideas. I supposed the tutors should understand what I mean.


Weak in other courses

I am very afraid of doing mathematics. Once I got the answer wrong, I would not have any marks. I do not have much confidence in mathematics since in primary school.

This student preferred to take essay type courses.


Spent extra time

I did not know how to do assignments. I wanted to have more time to finish the assignments by asking for extension.

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches Mismatch 3 – did not have adequate English ability

All said that they could understand the course materials, although not in the first attempt.

For difficult parts, they would read a few more times and look up the dictionary to get a better understanding.

However, some students had more problems than others.


Not able to identify important parts

My English is quite weak… I think I am not good at study skills. My ability is quite weak... I did not know how to select what should be covered or what should be left behind. I would say it is not a good or clever way of studying.


Not able to comprehend the materials

The reason [for spending longer time] is that my English is too weak. In reading the textbook, I could not understand. I have to look up the dictionary very often. I could not comprehend the text quickly… My time was wasted in this area... I spent much more time to finish reading but still might not be able to understand thoroughly.


Not able to present ideas due to weak English writing

I paid a lot of effort in the first TMA. I started it very early. However, I faced the problem of English competence. I had the points in mind but could not present them properly in English. I was not able to express clearly with correct words and grammar.


Weak examination performance

My performance in the examination was weak. I did not allocate my time properly. I did not read the passage for comprehension in good detail… I did not think for the answers thoroughly.

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches Mismatch 4 – not enough tutorials for face-to-face learners

They enjoyed tutors’ support: Helped understanding course materials and concepts

Maybe you do not understand if you study the book only. The tutorials would be very helpful. It also helped me to understand more and clearer by using lesser time. I thought of not attending tutorial before. However, I decided to attend eventually. If you missed a tutorial, you might miss some important points and have no chance to fill in the gap.

When [the course] first started, I was very hardworking that I read a

lot before attending tutorials. I thought that I understood what was presented. However, after attending the tutorials, I realised that I made mistakes. Therefore I regard that attending tutorials is very important. Otherwise, I would not be able to make sure if I have understood correctly.


They enjoyed tutors’ support: Helped to handle assignments

It’s very useful. First of all, the most important thing was that she reminded us of the due date of the handing in the assignment. Although the deadline has been stated in the assignments, I did not read that for TMAs as I focused on the contents without reading the assignment guides. Secondly, (the tutor) reminded us the important remarks of doing assignments, e.g. we cannot use point form to answer the questions. I think there would be a lot of students would make this kind of mistakes if they were not reminded. The points were very useful.


In the first interview, the students were asked how would they handle the problems and their study. They said

-- they were the responsible ones -- they would take control of their study

However found not able to handle their study independently

--they relied on their tutors’ presentation

or explanation


Attended more than one round of tutorial sessions on the same courses

It would be no harm to attend two tutorial groups… I attended two tutorial groups for [a computing and I.T. course] once… It helped me to understand more. You know, each tutor presents what she/he sees as important. Not all topics will be covered. Somehow, you might not be able to listen to what you need. If you go to another tutorial group, you will have the chance to get what you want.

At least three students did so


Preferred more tutorials

I think the tutorials sessions are not enough. If we could have tutorials each week, the assistance would be better. (5-credit course)

I think the time gap between two tutorials is too long. (Q: You have 1 tutorial per month, and you have surgeries.) I prefer to have a tutorial for every two weeks. It can keep my study mood. (10-credit course)

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches Mismatch 5 – varied degree of involvement in tutorials

Students attended tutorials to help their learning

Involvement in tutorials varied because of different reasons

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches Mismatch 5 – varied degree of involvement in tutorials

Did not preview – too busy at work (could not contribute ideas)

Not ready to ask questions (just focused on TMAs)

Weak English

Shy to present in front of others

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches Mismatch 6 – not using telephone tutoring

Because of a time gap between the needs and availability

-- only four hours per week was not enough-- over-time work did not allow to make calls

within the scheduled hours-- scheduled hours did not fit into late night

study habits-- not easy to understand through telephone

discussion-- felt uneasy to call all the time, meaningless

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches Mismatch 6 – not using telephone tutoring

Expected more hours

I would like the tutors to provide more consultation hours, not only limited to the evenings of Saturdays and Sundays. Usually, I was not at home... There are very limited hours for consultation. There are so many of us who need advice. I feel uneasy to disturb them…

Three students always called only to extend the assignment deadlines.

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches Mismatch 7 – not using online support, surgeries, libraries

Read notes from tutors or other students’ messages mainly, without participating in discussion or sharing views

It (Attending surgeries) is very practical. However, I cannot arrange my time to attend those surgeries. You can ask a lot of things if you have interest.

(Q: Have you attended any sessions of surgery?) I have not

attended any. I am lazy in this case.

I only used the e-mail system. My tutors encouraged us to use the e-mails, discussion board… I only read the messages. I was lazy. I did not join the chat room discussion.

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches Mismatch 7 – not using online support, surgeries, libraries

Not using the University library, e-library, public libraries

Because of -- not needed -- no time -- too far away from work place/ home

Part I – Students’ difficulties and mismatches Mismatch 8 – study groups not functioning well

Suggested by the University and the tutors to form study groups to support one another.

These ten students formed study groups in the first tutorial in the foundation business course.

They had exchanged contact information.


Peer support enjoyed

When I shared with my peers to finish different parts of the assignment, that is, we reminded and showed each other what we knew, I got a high sense of satisfaction. It was very nice that I got someone to ask. If I only studied on my own, it would be too difficult. I think it would be much easier to solve the problems together. It makes a very big different to have peers to work together.


Peers not available

I discovered a course mate took the exactly same subjects with me. I planned to ask for his telephone number in the next tutorial session. But he did not attend the tutorials again. I have no where to contact him again… The second tutorial was a month afterwards. We had to hand in the first assignment. It was too late to get another course mate to ask… I really hoped to learn with course mates of the course. If I could have someone to discuss with, I would not have dropped the XXX course…


No initiative to make the first call

Not easy to get group members (new to one another in new courses)

No time to meet up

Living far apart


Summary1. students did not make good use of information

provided in the prospectus and human resources indicated in course supplement to help themselves making decisions

2. students could not manage new concepts of all courses. Some were good at essay type courses, but weak in computing or mathematics types, or vise versa. They performed not so well as they wanted to. They needed extra time, effort and support to handle tasks, which they might not have prepared for


Summary

3. students did not have adequate language abilities to handle their study in English. It caused problems in comprehending course content and writing up the assignments and answering questions in essay form


Summary4. numbers of tutorial sessions were not enough

for students who needed more face-to-face support

5. involvement in tutorials varied because of different reasons: not previewed, had not understood concepts even with tutors’ support, not enough confidence to share views or asking questions, not enough language ability, and personal preferences in learning


Summary6. the telephone tutoring support was not well

used as there was a gap between the time of need and availability

7. students did not use online and surgery support although available

8. peer learning outside classrooms was not functioning well because of limited time, lack of initiative and distant residence location


Why were there so many mismatches?

The key reason -- students were not equipped with sufficient study skills in distance learning mode that they needed to have for independent learning.

-- The gap between what they had (to be fed) and what they had to display (self-determined) was too big.


Why were there so many mismatches?

-- as mainly traditional study skills acquired from their face-to-face learning experiences since young

-- so not able to practice what they preached – to take up own responsibility, but relied a lot on others instead


If the students were to survive and the University was to help, students had to be provided with chances to learn how to study in the alternative way.

Part II

Interpretation and

explanation for the mismatches

Open entry 33% of age group admitted to F6 ~ 17% obtain place in UGC-funded

universities Large number of youths miss out

Distance Education Education Commission accepted

need for distance learning but did not recommend UKOU model

Potential open entry students different to UK

OUHK follows UKOU model

Mis-matches Entrants to undergraduate

courses have been conditioned by HK schools to be heavily dependent learners

Distance education needs independent learning

Outcome of mis-matchesIn both kinds of institutions it seems that many are called to enrol but few are chosen to graduate. Such evidence as we have – and there is not enough of it – is consistent across open and dual-mode universities: that successful completion rates on many courses are disturbingly low. … But the general conclusion has to be that the methods of open and distance learning, held out as a promise of grand educational expansion, have failed to meet the hopes of the majority of higher education students. (Perraton, 2000)

Adult education theory

Pedagogy to andragogyDependent to independent learnersTeach how to swim down the shallow end rather than throw in deep endDistance learning materials with enhanced face-to-face tuition aiming to cultivate ability to learn independently

Open course choice UKOU has freedom in choice of

courses to promote openness Curtails guidance Curtails class cohesion

Part III

Question and answer

(10 minutes)

Open entry – Yes,Distance education – Why?Adult learning – Why not?Natalia Li, David Kember11th May 2005, OUHK

Thank you.

open entry – yes, distance education – why? adult learning – why not?

Documents

students difficulties

mismatches mismatch

courses weak

essay type courses

new concepts

year of distance education

method of study

year of distance learningpart